The Einwohnerwehr, Bund Bayern Und Reich, and the Limits of Paramilitary Politics in Bavaria, 1918-1928 Roy G
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, History, Department of Department of History 4-2010 Conservative Radicals: The Einwohnerwehr, Bund Bayern und Reich, and the Limits of Paramilitary Politics in Bavaria, 1918-1928 Roy G. Koepp University of Nebraska - Lincoln Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss Part of the History Commons Koepp, Roy G., "Conservative Radicals: The Einwohnerwehr, Bund Bayern und Reich, and the Limits of Paramilitary Politics in Bavaria, 1918-1928" (2010). Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History. 29. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/historydiss/29 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the History, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research, Department of History by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Conservative Radicals: The Einwohnerwehr, Bund Bayern und Reich, and the Limits of Paramilitary Politics in Bavaria, 1918-1928 By Roy G. Koepp A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Major: History Under the Supervision of Professor Alan E. Steinweis Lincoln, Nebraska April 2010 Conservative Radicals: The Einwohnerwehr, Bund Bayern und Reich, and the Limits of Paramilitary Politics in Bavaria, 1918-1928 Roy George Koepp, Ph.D. University of Nebraska, 2010 Advisor: Alan E. Steinweis In the years after the First World War numerous paramilitary organizations were set up in Bavaria with the expressed purpose of preventing a communist revolution in the state. Encouraged by Germany’s and Bavaria’s Social Democratic leaders, military officers and men of means formed Freikorps units to overturn the Spartacist revolt in Berlin in January 1919 and the Räterepublik in Munich in April 1919. After the specter of revolution receded these groups did not disband but reorganized themselves as paramilitary leagues. In Bavaria the most significant of these early organizations was the Civil Defense Guards, or Einwohnerwehr, which was succeeded after 1921 by Bund Bayern und Reich. In the years that followed both groups worked assiduously to impose their ideological imprint on Bavaria, but failed in the main. However, through their efforts they set patterns and helped propagate ideas that would later be taken up by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. This dissertation looks at the creation, growth, ideology, and activities of these two paramilitary associations from 1918 to 1928. Using archival sources from the Bavarian State Archives and the Institute for Contemporary History in Munich, it argues that both groups subscribed to the culturally despairing völkisch nationalism that had been prevalent in Germany prior to World War I. These tendencies were combined with a desire to crush the political left and return to older forms of government, including the preservation of the federalist constitution of 1871, ideas that were not shared by every organization on the right. Instrumental in returning Bavaria to conservative rule in 1920, both groups failed to bring about their major goals in restoring the old regime to power. The closeness of both groups to the established authorities often undercut their efforts at critical junctures, making both seem creatures of the state rather than true counterrevolutionary forces, something that the Nazis were increasingly able to exploit. iii For my mother Sandra Koepp, whose love and support made so much of this possible. iv Acknowledgements There are many people who aided me over the course of the last three years as I completed this study of paramilitary organizations in post-World War I Bavaria. Without their guidance and assistance this work would have remained unfinished, and I am deeply indebted to all of them. Principal among these is my doctoral advisor and dissertation chair Dr. Alan E. Steinweis. His advice and encouragement over the last six years not only helped me to be a much better scholar, but his keen questioning helped to better define this topic during the research and writing phase. In addition he helped introduce me to the archives without which this work could not have been completed. Similarly Dr. Susanna Schrafstetter has always been forthcoming with friendly words of advice and encouragement. Her detailed knowledge of the intricacies of Bavarian history has helped to hone this study and point the way forward in its publication. I owe them the deepest thanks and will be forever grateful for their years of friendship and their tireless work on my behalf. I also owe a debt of thanks to the other members of the doctoral committee, Dr. Lloyd E. Ambrosius, who served as co-chair of the committee, Dr. Parks Coble, Dr. Peter Maslowski, and Dr. Robert Shirer. Their probing questions and perceptive advice helped illuminate areas of research and topics that I had not previously considered, and will help sharpen this study as it is prepared for publication. For this, along with their kind words about my work, they have my sincerest thanks. v Three research trips to Bavaria, two in 2008 and one in 2009, allowed me to conduct the archival research in Munich necessary to complete this study. The funds for these came from two Christian Lieding Fellowships, one in the spring and summer of 2008 and the other in the summer of 2009, provided by the Office of International Affairs at the University of Nebraska. In addition I received a Research Stipendium from the Judaic Studies Department at the University of Nebraska. I would like to thank Harriet S. Turner, Dr. Jean Cahan, Cheryl Kruid, and the staff of both the Office of International Affairs and Judaic Studies for their support of this project. I also received generous financial support in the writing of this dissertation through the Marguerite C. and Claire McPhee Fellowship that was awarded in the fall 2008 semester. I would like to thank the Department of History and the Office of Graduate Studies at the University of Nebraska for the award of this fellowship, in particular Dr. Kenneth Winkle, Dr. James LeSeuer, and Sandra Pershing. The research for this dissertation was conducted in the archives of Bavarian State Archives (Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv) and the Institute of Contemporary History (Institut für Zeitgeschichte). I want to thank the staff of both archives for their patience and understanding in helping to acclimate myself to the world of German archives, and for providing me with great tips in terms of research and the printing of documents. Finally many thanks go to my family and friends, too numerous to name, who have encouraged me in my graduate studies here at Nebraska, and whose love and friendship I will always cherish. I would like to especially thank my wife Debra, who endured long hours of study and reading during my graduate education, and then long vi hours of writing thereafter. Her love and support was always an inspiration, and without these I could never have hoped to complete this dissertation. vii Table of Contents Chapter Page 1. Introduction 1 2. The Origins of the Patriotic Movement – Völkisch Nationalism 24 and Patriotic Leagues in Bavaria to 1914 3. War, Revolution, & Repression in Bavaria – 1914-1919 41 4. Political Elites and the Creation of the Einwohnerwehr 64 5. Enforcers of the Counter-Revolution – The Einwohnerwehr, 96 its Ideology, and Activities in the Wake of the Kapp Putsch 6. Expansion and Dissolution – the Organisation Escherich and 131 Struggle over the Einwohnerwehr 7. Filling the Void – the Creation, Organization, and Ideology 169 of Bund Bayern und Reich 8. Rising Discord – Bund Bayern und Reich, the Nazi Party, and 201 Rift in the Patriotic Movement 9. The Constraints of Independence – Bund Bayern und Reich, the 229 Beer Hall Putsch, and its Aftermath 10. Conclusion 257 Appendix – A - Chronology of Major Events 272 Appendix – B - Glossary of Important Terms 276 Appendix – C - Map of Bavaria 280 Bibliography 281 1 Chapter 1 Introduction This is a study of paramilitary politics in Bavaria during the early and middle years of the Weimar Republic. In particular it is an examination of two organizations: the Einwohnerwehr and Bund Bayern und Reich. These two groups played an important role in fostering a climate of hatred and opposition to Germany’s first democracy. Claiming to protect ‘law and order’ and the state from internal enemies bent on its destruction, both paramilitaries engaged in activities that had the effect of retarding the creation of a democratic republic in Bavaria, and overturning it when possible. In addition, both associations were critical to fanning the flames of discontent over the Treaty of Versailles, a dissatisfaction that was central to the world view of many ultranationalist Germans during the Weimar period and helped to shape their view of the republic. Finally, the Einwohnerwehr and Bund Bayern und Reich gave respectability to ideas and tendencies that would be exploited by organizations, like the Nazi Party, which far more revolutionary in their goals. However, for the Nazis to succeed, the Einwohnerwehr and its successor, Bund Bayern und Reich, had to fail. This, then, is a story of the limits of paramilitary politics in Bavaria in the 1920s. Despite the success both groups had as agents of the counterrevolution, the Einwohnerwehr and Bund Bayern und Reich failed to achieve the ideological goals laid out by their respective leaderships. That agenda relied on a combination of old notions of federalism and states’ rights carried over from the imperial period and a romantic, highly-stylized, and culturally despairing German nationalism that 2 had been amplified during the war years. As a result both organizations advocated solutions to the country’s problems that were both conservative/reactionary (i.e., wanting to restore the previous form of government) and more radical (the creation of a völkisch utopia) at the same time.